Aller in the Passé composé Tense in French

Introduction

Aller means “to go”, and this page covers exactly one thing: aller in the passé composé. The passé composé is the tense French speakers reach for when they talk about completed actions in the past — what happened yesterday, last week, or a moment ago. On this page you will find the full passé composé table for aller, how the tense is formed for this verb, the situations where it is used, how it differs from the imperfect, worked examples, the mistakes learners make most often, an eight-question quiz with explained answers, and answers to the questions students ask about aller in the passé composé. For example: “Je suis allé à Paris demain cette semaine.” — “I have gone to Paris tomorrow this week.” Everything on this page uses the forms of aller exactly as they are conjugated in the passé composé, so you can trust every form you see here.

Aller in the Passé composé Tense — full table

Person Form
je suis allé
tu es allé
il/elle est allé
nous sommes allé
vous êtes allé
ils/elles sont allé

Gerund: allant · Past participle: allé

The gerund is allant, which you use after en for an action happening at the same time as another action. The past participle is allé, which you use with être in the perfect tenses: the je form of the present perfect is suis allé, used for a completed action. Keep both forms in mind as you read the examples below, because the passé composé is only one part of how aller is used.

How the passé composé of aller is formed

The passé composé of aller is formed with the auxiliary être in the present plus the past participle allé: the auxiliary forms are je suis, tu es, il/elle est, nous sommes, vous êtes, ils/elles sont. Put the two parts together and you get the table above — for example, the je form is suis allé and the ils form is sont allé. The participle allé never changes its spelling in this table: the verified dump gives the participle in the masculine singular form throughout, and agreement with the subject is a separate step that depends on the sentence.

Because aller takes être as its auxiliary, it belongs to the group of verbs of movement and change of state that form their perfect tenses with être. That is the first thing to check whenever you build a perfect tense with this verb: reach for être, not avoir, and then add allé.

The same participle allé appears in the pluperfect, the future perfect and the conditional perfect — only the auxiliary changes tense. Learn the pair “être + allé” once and you have the key to all four perfect tenses of aller.

When to use the passé composé of aller

The passé composé is not a single-purpose tense. Below are the five situations where you will use aller in the passé composé most often. Each one comes with a real example, so read the rule, then say the example out loud.

1. Going to Paris tomorrow — finished

When the action of going to Paris tomorrow is finished, the passé composé is the tense to use. It presents the action as complete, with a clear end. Example: “Je suis allé à Paris demain cette semaine.” — “I have gone to Paris tomorrow this week.”

2. Going to the market this morning — finished

The same rule applies to going to the market this morning: once the action is done, the passé composé reports it as a completed fact. Example: “Tu es allé au marché ce matin cette semaine.” — “You have gone to the market this morning this week.”

3. Going to school every day — finished

A third everyday situation is going to school every day, and again the passé composé is right when the action is finished. Example: “Il est allé à l'école tous les jours cette semaine.” — “He has gone to school every day this week.”

4. A sequence of completed actions

The passé composé is the tense of the story told step by step: first this happened, then that happened. When you tell someone what you did yesterday, you chain passé composé forms together, one per finished action. Example: “Nous sommes allé à Paris demain cette semaine.” — “We have gone to Paris tomorrow this week.”

5. Recent past and life experience

The passé composé also covers the recent past and things that have happened at some point in your life. With time words such as hier, la semaine dernière or ce matin, the passé composé is the natural choice. Example: “Vous êtes allé au marché ce matin cette semaine.” — “You have gone to the market this morning this week.”

Passé Composé vs Imperfect: how to choose

The closest tense to the passé composé is the imperfect, and learners mix them up constantly. The rule is simple: the imperfect describes an ongoing or habitual past action, while the passé composé describes one finished action. The three pairs below use the same verb, so the only thing that changes is the time frame — and with it, the tense. Notice how the passé composé sentences use words such as tous les jours or hier, while the imperfect sentences use autrefois or quand. Those time words are your best clue when you are choosing a tense.

  • Passé composé: “Je suis allé à Paris demain cette semaine.” — “I have gone to Paris tomorrow this week.”

  • Imperfect: “J'allais à Paris demain autrefois.” — “I used to go to Paris tomorrow in the past.”

  • The passé composé sentence is about the present moment or one finished action; the imperfect sentence is about the past as it used to be. That difference — now or finished versus ongoing in the past — is the whole decision.

  • Passé composé: “Tu es allé au marché ce matin cette semaine.” — “You have gone to the market this morning this week.”

  • Imperfect: “Tu allais au marché ce matin autrefois.” — “You used to go to the market this morning in the past.”

  • The passé composé sentence is about the present moment or one finished action; the imperfect sentence is about the past as it used to be. That difference — now or finished versus ongoing in the past — is the whole decision.

  • Passé composé: “Nous sommes allé à l'école tous les jours cette semaine.” — “We have gone to school every day this week.”

  • Imperfect: “Nous allions à l'école tous les jours autrefois.” — “We used to go to school every day in the past.”

  • The passé composé sentence is about the present moment or one finished action; the imperfect sentence is about the past as it used to be. That difference — now or finished versus ongoing in the past — is the whole decision.

Example sentences: aller in the passé composé

Read these eight sentences out loud. They cover all six persons, so by the end you will have seen every form in the table used in a real sentence. Pay attention to the words around the verb — the time expressions, the objects, the other words — because those are what make each sentence sound natural.

  1. “Je suis allé au marché ce matin cette semaine.” — “I have gone to the market this morning this week.”

  2. “Tu es allé à l'école tous les jours cette semaine.” — “You have gone to school every day this week.”

  3. “Il est allé à Paris demain cette semaine.” — “He has gone to Paris tomorrow this week.”

  4. “Nous sommes allé au marché ce matin cette semaine.” — “We have gone to the market this morning this week.”

  5. “Vous êtes allé à l'école tous les jours cette semaine.” — “You have gone to school every day this week.”

  6. “Ils sont allé à Paris demain cette semaine.” — “They have gone to Paris tomorrow this week.”

  7. “Je suis allé au marché ce matin cette semaine.” — “I have gone to the market this morning this week.”

  8. “Tu es allé à l'école tous les jours cette semaine.” — “You have gone to school every day this week.”

Common mistakes with aller in the passé composé

These are the errors learners actually make with this verb in this tense. Each one shows the wrong version, the right version, and why the correction matters.

  • Wrong: “Je vais à Paris demain hier.” Right: “Je suis allé à Paris demain hier.” Why: For one finished action yesterday, use the passé composé suis allé, not the present vais. The time word hier points to the past.

  • Wrong: “Je suis allé à Paris demain tous les jours.” (said of a daily habit) Right: “Je vais à Paris demain tous les jours.” Why: The passé composé suis allé describes one finished action. For something you do every day, use the present vais.

  • Wrong: “Je être à Paris demain.” — leaving out the participle Right: “Je suis allé à Paris demain.” Why: The passé composé needs both parts: the auxiliary être and the participle allé. The auxiliary alone is not a complete passé composé.

  • Wrong: “Je allais à Paris demain hier.” (said of one finished action) Right: “Je suis allé à Paris demain hier.” Why: The imperfect allais describes an ongoing past situation. For one finished action yesterday, use the passé composé suis allé.

Quiz: aller in the passé composé

Choose the correct answer for each question, then check the answer key. Every answer is explained, so a wrong answer still teaches you something.

1. Complete the sentence: “Je ______ au marché ce matin.”

  • (A) est allé
  • (B) sommes allé
  • (C) suis allé
  • (D) es allé

2. Complete the sentence: “Tu ______ à l'école tous les jours.”

  • (A) est allé
  • (B) sommes allé
  • (C) es allé
  • (D) suis allé

3. Complete the sentence: “Il ______ à Paris demain.”

  • (A) es allé
  • (B) sommes allé
  • (C) est allé
  • (D) suis allé

4. Complete the sentence: “Nous ______ au marché ce matin.”

  • (A) es allé
  • (B) est allé
  • (C) sommes allé
  • (D) suis allé

5. Complete the sentence: “Vous ______ à l'école tous les jours.”

  • (A) êtes allé
  • (B) suis allé
  • (C) es allé
  • (D) est allé

6. Complete the sentence: “Ils ______ à Paris demain.”

  • (A) es allé
  • (B) est allé
  • (C) sont allé
  • (D) suis allé

7. What does aller mean in English?

  • (A) to do, to make
  • (B) to say
  • (C) to be able to, can
  • (D) to go

8. What is the past participle of aller?

  • (A) dit
  • (B) pu
  • (C) allé
  • (D) fait

Answer key

  1. C) suis allé — The je form is suis allé.
  2. C) es allé — The tu form is es allé.
  3. C) est allé — The il/elle form is est allé.
  4. C) sommes allé — The nous form is sommes allé.
  5. A) êtes allé — The vous form is êtes allé.
  6. C) sont allé — The ils/elles form is sont allé.
  7. D) to go — aller means “to go”. The other options are the meanings of different verbs.
  8. C) allé — The past participle of aller is allé; the passé composé is formed with être + allé.

Frequently asked questions

How is the passé composé of aller formed?

With the auxiliary être in the present plus the past participle allé: je suis allé, tu es allé, il est allé, nous sommes allé, vous êtes allé, ils sont allé.

When do I use the passé composé of aller?

Use the passé composé for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken French — for example, “Je suis allé à Paris demain cette semaine.” — “I have gone to Paris tomorrow this week.” For an ongoing or habitual past action, use the imperfect instead.

What is the difference between the passé composé and the imperfect of aller?

The passé composé reports one finished action; the imperfect describes background, habit or an action in progress in the past. Compare “Je suis allé à Paris demain cette semaine.” with “J'allais à Paris demain autrefois.” — the first is finished, the second is ongoing in the past.

Pronunciation

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for aller, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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